Is It Safe to Get Instant Car Insurance Online?

By Ricky LawrencePublished: Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Instant car insurance is now the choice of many when it comes to insuring their cars. People lead busy lives and hardly have time to go through the fuzz of applying for car insurance the conventional way. They take the easier route online where insurance companies offer instant and hassle-free processing. However, sometimes, in the quest for faster processing, some applicants fall victims to scams that are rampant in the Internet.

Because of a demand for online applications, scammers take the opportunity to fool people. They promise to give insurance policies in a matter of minutes, get payment from victims, and then never fulfill their end of the deal. Car owners then question the safety of getting instant car insurance online. Actually, it is still safe to do so, provided that they practice caution. Here are a few tips to gauge if a particular website is legitimate or not.

One way to avoid being scammed is to visit the websites of trusted names in the car insurance industry. These companies put their names on the line. They have been in existence for many years now and will not taint their reputation over misdeals with a customer.

However, there are also small players in the insurance industry that offer instant car insurance online. A background investigation on them will not hurt before trusting them. There are small companies that are included in the official accredited list. The number of years in existence also bears weight to a provider’s credibility. Under the feedbacks tab of the website, a car owner could personally email one of the reviewers to check if it is a real person giving comments. A better guarantee will be a friend’s referral as well as firsthand experience.

Another good way to check a legitimate website is through the awards and citations it has received from known organizations. A car insurance company is usually awarded for its excellent services, often based on popular customer satisfaction.

Payment options are also indicative of a legitimate company. One way for a customer to pay for his instant car insurance is via bank deposit. A business normally has a corporate bank account under the name of the company itself. It could be a fraud if the account name is a person’s name.

The insurance premium is another factor to be considered. Scammers will lure victims by offering low premiums that are sometimes unimaginable. It is understandable that a person wants to save, but he should think twice before falling into the trap of drastically low rates, especially if that company is virtually unknown.